1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to termination of insulated wires of a multiwire cable to an electrical connector. Apparatus is disclosed which orients the cable relative to the connector during termination so that the cable will project at a right angle to the connector when all of the wires are terminated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electrical connector for terminating multiple conductor electrical cable is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,335, and includes two parallel rows of electrical contacts. A similar connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,288. The contacts of a plug version of the connector resiliently engage those of a receptacle version, when the two versions are intermated. The contacts of each version have wire receiving and connecting portions, each in the form of a resilient plate provided with a slot. An insulated conductor of the cable is trimmed to length and inserted in the slot. The conductor tends to widen the slot. Since the plate is resilient, the sides of the slot provide resilient jaws which resist widening of the slot. As a result, the jaws slice through the insulation of the conductor and resiliently engage opposite sides of the wire.
Suitable apparatus employing wire insertion tooling have been developed for trimming and inserting the conductors into the connector contacts, each requiring an operator to grasp a pair of conductors and insert them into the apparatus. Then the insertion tooling is actuated, either manually or automatically, to trim the conductor and transfer the trimmed wires into the connector. One type of apparatus, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,803,695 and 3,864,802, requires all conductor pairs to be placed in the apparatus, followed by simultaneous or mass termination of the conductors in the connector contacts. A second type, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,766,622 and 3,995,358, and sold by AMP Incorporated of Harrisburg, Pa., under the name CHAMP-O-MATIC, senses each pair of conductors and thereby is automatically triggered to trim and insert the pair into a corresponding pair of connector contacts. While an operator is in the process of selecting and grasping the next pair of conductors, the apparatus of the second type automatically moves the connector relative to the insertion tooling so that the next pair of contacts are adjacent the tooling and therefore positioned for insertion of the next pair of conductors. For another example of the second type, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,472. A third type of apparatus, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,874 and sold by AMP Incorporated under the name CHAMP-O-MATOR, is also semi-automatic but employs insertion tooling on a carriage movable relative to a stationary connector. For another example of the third type, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,555.
Each type of conductor trimming and inserting apparatus requires a clamp for anchoring the cable to the apparatus while the conductor terminations occur. The clamp is positioned out of the way of the operator and the working parts of the apparatus. While this clamp location is convenient to the operation of the apparatus, the clamp may force the cable to project in a peculiar or undesired direction in respect to the connector to which it becomes assembled.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,358 the clamp is stationary relative to the connector and is useful only for a cable aligned in parallel with the connector. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,874 the clamp is stationary relative to the movable insertion tooling and likewise is useful only for a cable aligned in parallel with the connector. U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,908 discloses a cable clamping and orienting apparatus, for use with the latter type wire insertion apparatus, which moves relative to the stationary connector and the insertion tooling so that the cable may be oriented at a right angle to the connector. The problem of providing a clamping apparatus to permit this desired orientation in wire insertion apparatus of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,766,622 and 3,995,358 has not heretofore been solved.